hello Tom :-)

Glad to hear from you :-)
So, cooperrideri is the name you've choosen for your hybrid. Can you help me telling what's the meaning and why this one ?

You're good at hybridation: go on :-)
All the best !
Thierry.

Hello Thierry,
Actually, I didn't choose the name. Someone else had already reported that, where they both occur together in the wild, these two violets will cross. They had given the natural hybrids between striata and walteri the name "X cooperrideri". So, I figured I'd better use that name too. I think (but am not positive) that it's derived from someone's surname [Cooperrider]. I'll take some more pictures of it soon, since it's been impressing me more and more.

Sadly, I don't have any germinations from the seeds I've planted in Fall 2005. There were several odorata crosses in there. But I'm not discouraged, I'll just have to get busy doing some more crosses now. I hope you've been doing crosses too.

Take care, Tom

Hi :-)

yes, do some more pictures :-) "X cooperrideri", add name, isn't it ?! I don't know the two, neither walteri nor striata: could you tell us more about its behaviour :-)
Don't throw the seeds the crosses you've made even if it doesn't seem to germinate...sometimes it can take time ! Have you tried a little vocation time in the fridge to make them believe spring is gonna come back ?
I've been luckier 'cause the 3 hybrids I've made last year did germinate...It drives me crazy to wait until next year to see the first blooms. Maybe I'll be desapointed...who knows !
Anyway, a new year, new chances for crosses :-))))
Does someone else try crosses ? Nathalie did some funny ones...

All the best :-)
Thierry.

Viola x cooperrideri was described (fide IPNI) by H.E. Ballard in 1993 in the journal Castanea. I do not have access to this journal, so I can't give any more information (such as the purported parents) than that.

Perhaps someone else can check it out.

I think we are at the height of the local violet season now.

Jim in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA

A good candidate too to compete in Portugal !! :O)

Thierry wrote... I don't know the two, neither walteri nor striata: could you tell us more about its behaviour

Thierry, I finally got a somewhat decent picture of the only walteri plant that I have left. The link below will show you both parents and the hybrid.

Viola striata is a local stemmed-violet that produces a profusion of cream/white colored flowers with dark purple lines in the center over a very long season. It has medium green foliage and grows fairly upright until later in the summer when it gets a bit floppy. It grows easily here and reseeds itself fairly well, but doesn't seed so much that it becomes a nuisance. Viola striata does not produce any runners or rooting stems.

Viola walteri is another stemmed violet. I purchased mine from a nursery much farther south, so I think it would prefer less severe winters, than the ones we have here in Maryland. It has silvery-foliage with dark green veins, somewhat resembling cyclamen foliage or Viola koreana. The undersides of the leaves are heavily red-tinted. The flowers are pale purple and fairly small and sparsely produced. Viola walteri is prostrate, spreading outward but not growing any upright stems. But like Viola striata, my Viola walteri doesn't produce any rooting runners or rooting stems. It just lays on the ground.

The hybrid grows very well here, and has an appearance that is intermediate between the two parents. It has dark green foliage with a hint of the silvery pattern and the leaves have the red-blushed undersides. Its flowers open almost white, but become more purple with age. The hybrid produces hardly any seeds and doesn't spread by runners, but by the end of the season has completely covered an area the size of a large dinner plate. This mat dies back to the crown in the winter.

Here is a link that might be useful: X Cooperideri and parents